Tag Archives: disability

A few days ago, Scarlett Johansson was announced as the lead in a new movie called Rub & Tug about Dante “Tex” Gill, a transgender man who owned a massage parlor and became involved in mob crime. The casting of a cisgender actress to play a transgender man has generated an angry buzz, only heightened by a Johansson rep’s reply to it: “Tell them that they can be directed to Jeffrey Tambor, Jared Leto, and Felicity Huffman’s reps for comment” (cisgender actors who have played transgender characters onscreen). In the wake of this conversation about what it means to have a minority character represented by someone outside the group, I thought this would be a good time to talk about this subject in film history.

When the Hays Code first came into being in 1930, the code explicitly forbade miscegenation onscreen, which was defined as “sex relationships between the white and black races.” This applied not only to what was depicted on film, but also in who was allowed to play which parts, opposite whom. If a leading man was black, for example, the leading lady also had to be black. If he was Asian, the leading lady had to be Asian, if he was white, the leading lady must be white. In order to tell the stories that they wanted to tell, starring the celebrities that would make them the most money, the studios were frequently pushed to put actors in blackface or yellowface, thereby creating films that was marketable–but outrageously offensive. Films such as these were frequently picketed by the NAACP, but for many years the studios found the picketing a small cost compared to the box office revenue from the films, and they had little motivation to do anything about the racially charged nature of the films coming out of Hollywood.

[IMAGE: Anna May Wong in a jeweled headdress, looking off camera.]

Meanwhile, careers were suffering. Anna May Wong, one of the few leading ladies of Asian descent in Hollywood in the 1930s, left for Europe out of frustration with the anti-miscegenation laws that governed how she could work onscreen. In Europe, she made a huge splash with such films as Piccadilly and Pavement Butterfly, but after her return to the United States when she signed a contract with Paramount, she could only be paired as a leading lady alongside Sessue Hayakawa–while Asian and Asian-American roles opposite white actors had to go to other white actors. Instead of procuring her onscreen roles, Paramount gave her a job as a tutor to teach white actors how to “act Asian” for their parts. The final straw came when the role of Chinese farmer O-Lan in The Good Earth went to Luise Rainer opposite Paul Muni. Wong had had it with Hollywood, and from then on only acted in low-budget films to finish her contract with Paramount, in later years donating her profits to United China Relief.

In 1942, the NAACP succeeded in its efforts to convince Hollywood to stop creating stereotypical characterizations of minorities, and to hire more African-American talent, but the anti-miscegenation laws continued. The role of Julie LaVerne in the 1951 version of Show Boat, a story that deals with the interracial relationship of a white man and a singer with African-American ancestry, was given to Ava Gardner instead of Lena Horne. In 1951, you could depict an interracial relationship–but not with an actual interracial couple.

Lena Horne sings “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man” from Show Boat, in the movie Till the Clouds Roll By (1946)

Fortunately, these rules are now long gone in the movies. But their influence still echoes, in the desire to stick with already-established personalities who will bring profit to the movies, rather than prioritize authentic casting. While it is now widely recognized that white actors cannot play characters of color, the same understanding does not yet exist for transgender characters or disabled characters. When the movie Wonder came out last year, starring Jacob Tremblay as a young boy with Treacher Collins Syndrome, I couldn’t help but think how many kids with Treacher Collins would have loved to star in a movie about a child with their disability. Or how many aspiring young actors with the syndrome could have played that role to perfection, and were denied a chance at employment. Like the limited opportunities afforded minority stars in the days of the Hays Code, this tendency to procure big names over authentic casting is costing many actors their livelihoods, and the right to tell their own stories.

Marlee Matlin made her screen debut in Children of a Lesser God (1986), and won the Best Actress Oscar as a deaf actress playing a deaf role. She remains the only deaf performer to have won the award. [IMAGE: Marlee Matlin signs in the dinner scene from Children of a Lesser God]

There is no dearth of transgender actors in Hollywood. The cast of Transparent, using authentic transgender casting, has earned numerous accolades and awards. Its stars, most previously unknown, have become veritable names in the industry. Had the producers of Rub & Tug managed to look beyond the reflex appeal of Scarlett Johansson and take a risk on an unknown transgender actor, they almost certainly would have found one, able to tell his own story truthfully and honestly. But as long as Hollywood plays it safe, continuing to recycle its moneymaking stars with no attention to authenticity, we will continue to see mere imitations and stereotyped portrayals on the screen, and miss out on witnessing potentially spectacular untapped talent.

There is an oft-repeated phrase in the disability rights community that has made its way into the LGBT rights movement–“Nothing about us, without us.” The producers of Rub & Tug would be wise to take that into consideration.

Today’s Summer Under the Stars marathon focuses on two-time Academy Award winner, cinematic legend and all-around delightful human being Olivia de Havilland, who at age 99 is still living and enjoying life in Paris where she has made her home since the early 1950s. I have always been a fan of Olivia de Havilland’s, and when I looked at the schedule today to try to decide what to review, I found that I had seen all of the movies on the schedule except one. I came to the conclusion that since I had seen just about everything, I should review one of the more meaningful films on the schedule today, and decided on Light in the Piazza (1962).

I have always been fascinated by Light in the Piazza. Made in the days before there was a great deal of advocacy surrounding the rights of individuals with intellectual disabilities, this love story about a young woman with an intellectual disability, her non-disabled boyfriend, and a mother’s advocacy and concern for her daughter is lightyears ahead of its time in many ways.

Olivia de Havilland plays Meg, a mother traveling in Italy with her 26-year-old daughter, Clara, whose mental development was stalled following an accident at age 10. Clara meets and falls in love with a handsome young Italian, Fabrizio, who is taken by what he perceives to be Clara’s simple naïveté. Meg wants to explain Clara’s condition to him and his family, but the moment never seems right and she worries about the family rejecting Clara. It becomes clear that she has been rejected several times when suitors find out about her age, and that Meg and her husband have made plans to put Clara in a special care home. Meg doesn’t like the idea of her daughter in such a place, and prefers that she be able to marry, if possible. But the husband is set on putting Clara in a home, so Meg tries to expedite Clara’s marriage to Fabrizio. When Fabrizio’s father sees Clara’s actual age on the wedding documents, he flees, taking Fabrizio with him. Meg is certain that he has a problem with Clara’s condition, but upon a visit by the father, it turns out that he is only concerned with the fact that Clara is older than his son. The issue is resolved, and the two marry.

The cast.

A bit of a saccharine ending, but still a forward-thinking piece on marriage rights for the disabled, and rights to live the life of an individual’s choosing. These are issues that still press the disabled community today, and to have a movie from 1962 highlighting these same issues much of a debate about the legitimacy of these rights, is truly something to think about.

It is perhaps fitting that Light in the Piazza, Olivia’s first movie after taking a 3 year hiatus to focus on raising her children, takes place in Europe and was filmed on location in Rome and Florence. The cast has a wonderfully international flavor to it, with Italian Rossano Brazzi playing Fabrizio’s father, and Yvette Mimieux, an American-born actress with French and Mexican parents, playing Clara. Olivia de Havilland, born in Japan to British parents, was raised in California and had become a French citizen.

Olivia de Havilland in the south of France with her son, Benjamin Briggs Goodrich, in 1953.

On July 1, Olivia de Havilland celebrated her 99th birthday. I had the great honor to meet her in Paris in 2011, and she was exactly as I had hoped–warm and funny, with a voice like melted chocolate. Meeting her remains one of the highlights of my life, as her greatness in person met and exceeded her greatness onscreen.

Don’t miss Light in the Piazza this evening at 11:30 PST, and for all those on the East Coast, be sure to set your DVRs.

Backlots is devoted to honoring and celebrating all aspects of classic film and is written by Lara Gabrielle, a California-based classic film writer and historian. Lara is currently working on a full-length biography of Marion Davies, the first since 1972.

Here you will find pieces on frequently seen classics and some lesser-known gems, as well as book reviews, festival coverage, and pieces on the history, theory and culture of film as it relates to the study of classic cinema.
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2019 CMBA Award for Best Profile of Classic Movie Performer or Filmmaker--"The Activism of Myrna Loy"

Winner of the 2018 CiMBA Award for Best Classic Movie Series, BACKLOTS AT THE COURTHOUSE: OLIVIA DE HAVILLAND VS. FX

Winner of the 2014 CiMBA Award for Best Profile of a Classic Movie Performer or Filmmaker: A Q&A WITH JOAN FONTAINE IN HONOR OF HER 96TH BIRTHDAY

Winner of the 2011 CiMBA Award for Best Classic Movie Discussion, THE FINAL SCENE OF THE HEIRESS

I am honored to be a judge of the Animal Film Festival in Grass Valley, CA.

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